Tax bill case to cost Pompey 10 points

PORTSMOUTH will be placed into administration

and hit by a 10-point penalty on Friday.

And that will plunge the crisis club into the thick of the Championship relegation battle.

The Fratton Park outfit is facing a winding-up order for an unpaid tax bill due to be heard next week.

And that has for ced the club to apply to go into administration for the second time in two years.

Players and staf f haven’t been paid since January – and the club’s assets wer e fr ozen when moves were made to wind the club up. Manager Michael Appleton

admits his side can’t afford to feel sorr y for themselves when the points deduction is imposed.

He said: “The biggest thing we would have to over come very quickly would be the morale.

“You’ve got to hope that it doesn’t take four or five games for the players to get into their heads what has happened to us.

“You’ve also got to be awar e the teams ar ound you and at the bottom of the league will see it as getting a second chance.

“The effect can be detrimental on us but it can also be an advantage to the other teams down there.”